RECOMMENDED

There’s almost no use in attempting to define the music Jaga Jazzist, a Norwegian uber-combo consisting of something like nine members, depending on when you catch the band live, works up. Beginning in 1996 with “Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz,” the ensemble made clear that anything from jazz to rock, European folk musics and electronica were on the table. At times, as with “Serafin,” Jaga Jazzist could be compared to Soft Machine during its more sedate moments. Jumping ahead a few years to 2001’s “A Livingroom Hush,” the band sounds like the actualization of Kieran Hebden’s jazzy dreams. The conflagration of acoustic instrumentation skewed towards a jazz tradition, and a European conception of dance music and electronics works surprisingly well. As Jaga Jazzist headed into record its third work, “The Stix,” all involved minimized the jazz influence and turned towards something like post-rock. Sharing a stage with Tortoise wasn’t a mistake. There was still a jazz flair to it all, simply due to the persistent inclusion of a horn section, but European composition became a focus, densely orchestrated portions of “Aerial Bright Dark Round” standing in stark contrast to earlier, more playful works. 2010 marked the band releasing its newest disc with assistance from Chicagoans John McEntire and Paul Nilssen-Love. With those collaborations, the Norwegians put together another album of surprisingly varied music, coming off as an updated Frank Zappa, who was in reality just trying to update Edgar Varèse. So, does that make Jagga Jazzist modern day avant-gardists of the highest order? Maybe. But even if it doesn’t, the Norwegians might suit those listeners who find Battles enticing, but a bit too aggressive. The band, without setting up any sort of sonic boundaries, though, has a sporting chance at entertaining just about anyone with an open ear. (Dave Cantor)

June 29 at Lincoln Hall, 2424 North Lincoln, (773)525-2508, 9pm. $14. 18+.

RECOMMENDED

If you have never heard the music of NOMO, consider this your opportunity for musical education. Rising out of the well-trodden depths of Afrobeat diaspora in the mid-aughts, the Ann Arbor, Michigan ensemble, fronted by Elliot Bergman, styled its own unique hybrid form with two releases late in the decade, 2008’s “Ghost Rock” and 2009’s “Invisible Cities.” NOMO’s original derivation includes reliance on softly metallic vibraphones as well as standard kit in percussion, funk horn and sax parts and subtle electronic manipulation. Perhaps the more avant-garde of the two, “Ghost Rock” is not afraid to employ dissonance to build anxiety, as on opener “Brainwave,” perhaps a more sedate and drawn-out analogue to the genre-spawning crescendo’s of Radiohead’s “The National Anthem.” Overall it is NOMO’s boldness in synthesis that marks them out, somehow managing to combine Fela Kuti and Tortoise without making it sound like cats fighting in a bag. (David Wicik)

March 5 at The Empty Bottle, 1035 North Western, (773)276-3600, 10pm. $14.

Photo: Joe Carsello

By David Wicik

One of the first things to remark about the band Shapers is just how mature of a sound the group has been able to achieve in such a short period of time. But there’s a simple explanation for that. While the four-piece ensemble, who make nuanced experimental music, have only been recording as Shapers for about a year now, they have been playing together and evolving as musicians for nearly a decade.

Shapers is comprised of married couple Zaid Maxwell and Amelia Styer, Todd Waters and Steve Reidell, the latter better known for his work on world-famous music blog The Hood Internet as DJ STV SLV, mash-up maestro extraordinaire (Styer jokes that Reidell looks at the Shapers project as “his crazy little brother”). The four formed the core of May or May Not, a now-defunct pop group that Maxwell says took after late-era Beatles work in its song structure and sound.

The transition from MoMN to Shapers reflects a sea change in the group’s methodology. Whereas MoMN was a group of songwriters working in isolation, Shapers embraces a more aleatoric approach to music making. As Waters explains, “Those (MoMN’s) pieces were mostly written, and we would all make our part for it. In this band we just make it up, we improvise and record ourselves and then try and go back and find the good parts.” Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

The annual weekly summer jazz series “Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz” makes a welcome return to Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion tonight for six weeks of Thursday night concerts through September 2. Spotlighting Chicago’s leading jazz artists across the spectrum of the genre—from Latin and Big Band to experimental, avant-garde and fusion forms—the series, a collaboration between the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Jazz Institute of Chicago and Millennium Park, will include world-premiere commissions, international collaborations and major artist centennial and anniversary celebrations.

First up is Tortoise, formed in Chicago in 1990 with roots reaching across the city’s jazz, indie-rock and punk scenes and considered pioneers of the post-rock movement. This twentieth-anniversary-year lineup, dubbed Tortoise 2.0, is made up of Dan Bitney on bass, keyboards, drums, percussion and guitar; John Herndon on drums, synthesizer, percussion and electronics; Douglas McCombs on bass, guitar and keyboards; John McEntire on keyboards, drums and percussion; and Jeff Parker on guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizer and percussion along with special guests for this special appearance that include Ed Wilkerson on reeds; Greg Ward on saxophone; Nicole Mitchell on flute and piccolo; Jim Baker on piano and vintage ARP synthesizer 2600 and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and electronics. Read the rest of this entry »

Kid Color

RECOMMENDED

The Art Institute of Chicago’s sleek, pristine Modern Wing is hosting the current Sound & Vision exhibit, which aims to explore “the symbiotic relationship between art and music, presenting humorous yet rigorous investigations in which the two do not connect in any synesthetic sense but rather come together via acts of transposition…” To this effect, the Art Institute, in conjunction with Metro/Smart Bar, present Gard(en)Counter, featuring Metro/Smart Bar in-house DJs Nate Manic, Bald E. and Kid Color, who’ll provide the gift of sound spanning 1982 to present day. As for the vision, we’re sure the multimedia exhibits and installations will fit perfectly like “blue, blue, electric blue.” (Duke Shin)

July 30, Pritzker Garden/Griffin Court at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Michigan, (877)307-4242, 9pm-midnight, $8/$10.

Photo: Pierpaolo Ferrari

RECOMMENDED

Rapper-turned-acoustic troubadour Lorenzo Cherubini (best known as Jovanotti) might be a giant star who fills stadiums back in his native Italy, but here in the US he is following an indie musicians’ trail. During the summer of 2009, he played a string of regular acoustic-based shows at small New York City venues, and is now making a return with more East Coast dates.

“That idea came after the last gig we did here earlier this year,” Jovanotti says via telephone. “We did a concert at New York’s Highline Ballroom that was sold out, and the day after that there was the thought of coming here again to do another concert at a bigger place, but I really wanted to do something different.”

The singer-songwriter, who is also a human-rights activist, started out more than two decades ago as a rapper, but he always kept an open mind about his musical influences. Over the years, he began veering into a more melodic direction, and that led to collaborations with the likes of Brazil’s Daniela Mercury, Sergio Mendes, Bono, Ben Harper and Michael Franti (of Spearhead).

“I’m getting old,” he says with a laugh. “From my point of view, everything is much more natural. It’s like when you live with a person for many years, there is an evolution. As far as my music goes, the energy for me is always the same.” (Ernest Barteldes)

May 6, 8pm, Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, (773)525-2501. $ 25.

By Tom Lynch

At the

end of each year, media outlets the world over assess the top achievements of the last twelve months, each critic or collective taking a stab at selecting the “best” or “top” records, tracks, live shows and music videos (still!) that have made the grade. Newcity’s no exception, and while I look over the list of releases of 2009 and consider the enormous amount of live shows I’ve attended in the last year, I can’t help but think: so that’s it?

Curiously, most best-of-the-decade lists that are popping up online don’t include many, if any, 2009 releases. Of course, this could be because the albums released this year haven’t had enough time to settle in critics’ hearts and minds, but it’s also possible, maybe even likely, that there isn’t much from this year that’s especially notable. Instead, it’s been a year of non-releases, as many of the top acts in the world were absent in new recorded form, and those established artists that did offer new material came up short. There have been debut records from bands that have been rewarding and show immense promise, but if any of these artists are lucky, their best work lies ahead of them.

Call me a grump, and I’ll nod and shrug, as it wouldn’t be the first time. But there were exactly zero records that were produced this year that I couldn’t stop obsessing over, let alone any that I could look back upon, years in the future, and grin in bittersweet nostalgic recognition as a piece of history, personal or otherwise, that represents this moment in life. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Instrumental hard-rock foursome Pelican gets a lot of flack. Music writers enjoy taking out some sort of bottled rage on the band, like Pitchfork writer Grayson Currin, in his review of 2007′s “City of Echoes,” beginning his rant with “That’s it: Fire the drummer.” Or the Village Voice earlier this month, in its review of new Pelican record “What We All Come to Need,” slamming the group for essentially not being metal enough. (The metal community jumped to Pelican’s defense. Check out the recap at The Daily Swarm.) As moronic the criticism of “not metal enough” actually is, I suppose I can see the band being “not metal enough” for some, like Mayhem fans. Certainly doesn’t mean Pelican’s not a worthy band, as it surely is—2005′s “The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw” is one of the best record’s made by a Chicago band in this decade, and I quite liked “City of Echoes” and its redirection towards sweeping melody. “What We All Come to Need” mixes the two records, performing a heavy-but-beautiful balancing act that’s booming, if a little forgettable. It’s not Pelican’s finest hour, but it’s not anything worth regretting either. Plus, there’s a straight-up-metal distorted guitar riff about a minute-and-half into “Ephermeral,” a new song. So there. (Tom Lynch)

December 11 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, (773)276-3600, at 10pm. $10-$14.

RECOMMENDED

Local instrumental three-piece post-metal act Russian Circles now has three fantastic records to its name, each one more progressive and daring, each with its own unique personality and winning traits. The band’s 2006 debut, “Enter,” was nearly pure metal—riffs, pounding drums, aching ears—it was an overachievement for a group in its first rodeo. “Station” came in 2008 and featured a craftier, sensitive Russian Circles, more brooding and calm, less in your face. The effect was punishing in a different way. “Geneva,” the brand-new record, works just as well as the other two, as the band’s embraced loop pedals and effects even more than before. (Live, the three musicians sound like a chorus of a hundred, as the sounds coming from all directions overwhelm.) “Geneva,” a smart, engaging work, could be the band’s best yet. (Tom Lynch)

December 12 at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, (773)525-2508, at 9pm. $12-$14.

RECOMMENDED

Toronto post-rockers Do Make Say Think have been together for nearly fifteen years and never once have given a shit about throwing out a three-minute pop song in an attempt to grab the attention of the ADD-riddled masses. Instead, Ohad Benchetrit, Charles Spearin and co. have stuck to what they know and love: sprawling instrumentals incorporating everything from the usual guitar/drum/keyboard/bass combo to flute, saxophone, horns and violin. The octet is touring behind its sixth release, May’s “Other Truths,” a set of four lengthy tracks, each named after a verb from the band’s name. The members of DMST certainly have a hell of a lot going on, as half are part of the indie-rock super-group Broken Social Scene, which has like 397 members, not to mention various side projects of their own. In addition to “Other Truths,” Spearin and Benchetrit each released self-titled debut solo albums this year, “The Happiness Project” and “Years,” respectively, and both are doing double duty on this trek. If experimental instrumental rock is your thing, these are the bands you need to be listening to. (Kelley Hecker)

December 4 at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, (773)525-2508. 10pm. $15. December 5 at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, (773)525-2501. 10pm. $15.